as in obstacle
something that makes movement or progress difficult
the homeowner put up a fence around his garden as a deterrent for animals
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in preventive
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of deterrent
Julia Preston, Foreign Affairs, 25 Oct. 2024
The First Circuit agreed with the lower court, holding that FBAR penalties — acknowledged to be partly deterrent in nature — are not subject to the constitutional protection against excessive fines.
—Robert Goulder, Forbes, 15 Oct. 2024
Vale responded by arguing that Trump's frauds impacted consumers by inserting false and misleading information into the marketplace, and that Trump's fine has a deterrent effect.
—Aaron Katersky, ABC News, 26 Sep. 2024
By Yian Lee / Bloomberg September 20, 2024 4:10 AM EDT
Taiwan’s Constitutional Court upheld the legality of the death penalty but moved to limit its use, in a decision that strikes a balance between keeping the punishment’s deterrent effect and preventing its abuse.
—Yian Lee / Bloomberg, TIME, 20 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for deterrent
Adjective
The deterrent effect of these policies has proved difficult to measure and appears to have been quite limited.
—Julia Preston, Foreign Affairs, 25 Oct. 2024
The First Circuit agreed with the lower court, holding that FBAR penalties — acknowledged to be partly deterrent in nature — are not subject to the constitutional protection against excessive fines.
—Robert Goulder, Forbes, 15 Oct. 2024
Vale responded by arguing that Trump's frauds impacted consumers by inserting false and misleading information into the marketplace, and that Trump's fine has a deterrent effect.
—Aaron Katersky, ABC News, 26 Sep. 2024
By Yian Lee / Bloomberg September 20, 2024 4:10 AM EDT
Taiwan’s Constitutional Court upheld the legality of the death penalty but moved to limit its use, in a decision that strikes a balance between keeping the punishment’s deterrent effect and preventing its abuse.
—Yian Lee / Bloomberg, TIME, 20 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for deterrent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deterrent
Noun
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The Times spoke to both sides, as well as multiple experts to better understand the high-stakes litigation, which faces obstacles but could shake up California’s home insurance industry.—
Laurence Darmiento,
Los Angeles Times,
29 May 2025
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Kennedy’s announcement does not broadly address healthy adults, but under the new FDA framework, healthy adults who wish to receive the fall COVID-19 vaccine will likely face obstacles.—
Libby Richards,
The Conversation,
29 May 2025
Adjective
-
Nonetheless, the authors did state that COVID-19 vaccination remains a crucial preventive measure for pregnant women to reduce the overall risk of serious complications in pregnancy due to infection.—
Libby Richards,
The Conversation,
29 May 2025
-
According to the same course, predictive maintenance strategies provide an additional 8% to 12% cost savings over preventive maintenance.—
Rohit Prakash,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2025
Noun
-
Distribution: The Lingering Weak Link For all its strengths, Catalan animation still faces significant hurdles in distribution, especially at home.—
Jamie Lang,
Variety,
6 June 2025
-
Diagnosis Delays Hurt Women’s Outcomes Even before a clinical trial is an option, women face significant hurdles in getting a diagnosis.—
Geri Stengel,
Forbes.com,
6 June 2025
Noun
-
As far as the lack of democratization, the current state of supply chains presents a high barrier to entry for small businesses who want to integrate with larger retailers or access global networks.—
Shekar Natarajan,
Forbes.com,
23 May 2025
-
Use waterproof barriers, such as special ointments or creams, to protect the skin from direct contact with water.—
Sarah Jividen,
Verywell Health,
23 May 2025
Adjective
-
While North Korea's naval forces are widely seen as far inferior to those of its rivals, analysts say a destroyer equipped with modern missile and radar systems could still boost the North's offensive and defensive capabilities.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
7 June 2025
-
Corral continued the defensive heroics in the sixth.—
Charles Baggarly,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
7 June 2025
Noun
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Additionally, 24% of providers in Colorado reported incidents of obstruction over those two years, and 18% experienced threats.—
Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton,
Denver Post,
22 May 2025
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These include aiming a firearm at another person, reckless conduct, criminal damage to property, obstruction of law enforcement, evidence tampering, conspiracy to commit a felony, and simple assault.—
Preezy Brown,
VIBE.com,
21 May 2025
Noun
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The press had assembled to watch Earhart soar, and instead witnessed an embarrassment.—
Laurie Gwen Shapiro,
New Yorker,
2 June 2025
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King, whose chapter represents Treasury employees in the D.C. area, accused the national union of just hoping the internal problem goes away, and instead the issue is creating an embarrassment.—
Erin Mansfield,
USA Today,
29 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Deterrent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deterrent. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.
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